High above the molten ocean, space twisted and cracked. One second, Jared glimpsed the dawn of creation; the next, he saw stars die in a silent apocalypse.

At the maelstrom’s very core loomed the silhouette of a colossal structure.

Its walls appeared carved from flawless chaotic crystal-neither black nor white, yet somehow all colors at once, every facet aglow with secret worlds.

It was no ordinary palace but a multi-tiered pyramid of fire, revolving almost imperceptibly, its needle point spearing the wild, flaming sky.

The entire tower lay sheathed in a dense mantle of shifting, prismatic flame-the fabled Chaotic Origin Flame-guarding it like an ancient sentinel.

Even from a great distance, Jared could clearly sense the supreme aura emanating from the Chaos Origin Flame-an aura that made all things tremble and caused the very laws of existence to wail in lament.

At the edge of the forbidden ground stood a colossal stone stele over 110 feet tall, its entire body crimson as blood, as though it had been compressed and solidified from countless flame runes.